


To Hear You Say It

by jeni_andtheafterthought



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, Falling In Love, First Time, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Muggle Activities, Pining, Praise Kink, Roommates, Sexual Inexperience, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-03-25 09:29:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13831329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeni_andtheafterthought/pseuds/jeni_andtheafterthought
Summary: Hogwarts has put together an eighth year in order to allow all students a chance to complete their N.E.W.T.'s.  Harry and the other "eighth year" students come back to a much different Hogwarts.  Harry could get used to a new dormitory, harder classes, even his new roommate.  He could even get used to all the new rules and expectations.  Making his bed? How hard could it be?





	1. Welcome Back

**Author's Note:**

> alpha read by Phia @unicornsandphoenix  
> beta read by Pam @pamelamariexo  
> You two are amazing, thank you so much.

The welcoming ceremony was both familiar and surreal.  This was the first time Harry was here for a welcoming ceremony without Dumbledore.  The returning students, as well as the new first years, had remained nervously silent for most of the evening.  There was no sorting.  There was a notable absence of a large number of the older students.  It was not a comfortable return.

If anyone was upset about the decision to wait until second year to sort into houses, they stayed silent on the issue.  More surprising was the lack of response when Headmistress McGonagall revealed that returning eighth year students would no longer be separated into their former houses and would not be eligible for the quidditch teams.

Headmistress McGonagall was the same stern presence as ever.  Holding the attention of everyone in the room she continued her address, “We do wish to make it very plain that you are to continue working together, academically and otherwise, throughout the coming year.  This is a difficult return.  The strength and compassion of each and every student is paramount to the success of the coming year.  The letters you have received prior to your return have outlined the academic review for each class as well as slight changes to the curriculum.  In addition to the head of each house, the faculty has designated additional advisors.  The Head of First Year is our flying instructor, Madam Hooch.  The Head of Eighth Year is our arithmancy professor, Professor Vector.”

Both witches stood briefly at the announcement of their new positions.  Harry recognized Professor Vector, though nothing had possessed him to take her classes.  Hermione liked her, if he remembered correctly.  If the Gryffindors could handle someone as strict as McGonagall, Vector would not be a drastic change.

“At the conclusion of our welcoming ceremonies, each of you will report to your dormitories with exception of first and eighth year students.  These students will report to the head of year advisor to be led to the new dormitories,” McGonagall said in one last instruction.  As she took her seat, the tables filled with many of the staple dishes they have come to expect on such an occasion. Harry likely would not have noticed anything different if not for Padma sitting across the table with her sister.  

“Parvati, look!” Padma said in an excited whisper. “They made rice!”

“I suppose things are starting off rather differently already, hm?” Hermione said to him.

Harry was not sure if she meant sitting with people from other houses, not being a Gryffindor anymore, or the spicy-sweet rice dish in front of them.  Whichever it was, she was not wrong.

* * *

 

The new Head of Eighth Year was impossible to miss.  She was not a tall woman, but she had the presence of someone much more imposing.  She wore red from head to foot with the exception of her hat, which was black and adorned with small red flowers. Her voice reminded Harry of  Professor McGonagall’s, though her accent was different.

“For those of you I’ve not had the opportunity to teach, let me introduce myself. I am Professor Septima Vector.  I am not an alumna of Hogwarts; I can assure you there will be no preferential treatment from me based on your former house.  I will do my best to advise each of you to the best of my ability.  The return to the curriculum will be more difficult for some than others.  I, as well as the other professors, will do our best to prepare you for the N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year,” Professor Vector said. “I’m sure your most immediate concern is your rooming assignments.  Your common room is located in the north corridor near the astronomy tower entrance.  The portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus will, with the password ‘papaver rhoeas’, let you into your common room.” Neville and Hermione seemed to catch a significance that went over Harry's head.

“Your rooming assignments are posted in your common room.  There will be two per room.  Your roommate has been selected alphabetically by last name. Now, please, follow me and we will get you settled,” she said.  With a swirl of scarlet robes and tiny flowers, she turned and led the way.

“Don’t suppose I’ll be stuck with Zabini do you?” Ron asked Harry once they were on their way to the new rooms.

“I thought he was able to pass all his N.E.W.T.’s last year,” Hermione said.  

“Small mercies I guess,” Ron said, “Would have been one hell of an awkward year.”

“Who does that mean I have then?” Harry wondered, “P? Parkinson and the Patils are girls.”

“Observed and noted,” Ron said, grinning.

Harry shoved at him, “Thinking out loud, mate.  Didn’t Rivers transfer to Beauxbaton’s years ago?  Shit, what if it’s Nott?”

“Well, at least you won’t be rooming with a stranger.  We know everyone,” Ron said.

Harry nodded.  Whatever it was, it could not be that bad.

The Copernicus portrait wasn’t difficult to find. Once inside, no one seemed eager to explore their new common room. Most of them went to their room straight away.  Harry and Ron were among the last to see their rooming assignments.  As they approached, Dean smiled at them.

“Lucky you,” he said, grabbing Ron by the shoulder. “You got me. We’re in four.  Last room down the left hall. Girls are on the right.” Then he turned to Harry but said nothing.

Harry read the list.  Room one, Boot/Finch-Fletchley; room two, Finnigan/Longbottom; room three…

“Bloody hell,” Ron said beside him.  

Harry took a deep breath and let it out just as Ron started to laugh.  “Of _course,_ I got Malfoy.”


	2. Owe Me A Favor

The first few nights in the room were awkward, to say the least.  Plenty of avoiding eye-contact, being very aware of Draco Malfoy without actually paying attention to Draco Malfoy, and falling into a routine that kept them from having to discuss the use of the bathroom attached to their room.  

Classes offered little by way of space either.  Only fourteen students came back for their eighth year.  Many were able to pass classes the year before, some transferred to other schools, and others…Harry shook his head, clearing his thoughts as best he could.  He was thankful that the classes he needed were among the most popular.  He couldn’t imagine being in arithmancy.  Hermione said it was only Draco and her in that class.  Before he could really get back into his Transfiguration essay, a bell sounded at the portrait entrance to the common room.

“That’s new,” Ron said, looking up from his own essay.

When Professor Vector entered the common room, Hermione agreed, “Maybe she wants to respect our space?”

“Whatever it is, why does she look like she’s about to read a declaration from the king, Robin Hood-style?” Harry said. He meant it as a joke, but her demeanor did seem a bit ominous.

The few eighth years who were still in the rooms filed into the common room.  Once all were present, Professor Vector cleared her throat and unrolled a scroll of parchment in a manner that was unmistakably reminiscent of Dolores Umbridge.  Parkinson actually laughed.

Vector smiled widely at Parkinson, “I knew someone would find it funny.”

“No, _that’s_ new,” Harry whispered to Ron.

“All jokes aside,” Vector said, still smiling, “The other professors and I have come up with a new system we would like to offer the older students.  I know you may all be aware that the use of House Elf workers is being re-evaluated at Hogwarts.  We think it would be beneficial for both the House Elf staff and yourselves if several of the upkeep responsibilities now fall upon you.”

When met with mostly blank stares, Vector continued, “You will be responsible for cleaning your own rooms.”

“That’s it?” Hermione asked.

“A couple of the new professors have brought to our attention that we are lacking in a few areas.  For many of you, it is unlikely that you have been taught the proper methods or spells for basic household chores.  To hold everyone accountable, we are going to be doing room inspections.”

More than one groan answered this.

“I thought that would get your attention,” she said.  “I’m here to provide you with a basic checklist of what we’re going to be looking for when we check the rooms.  I will be doing most of the inspections, but if anyone doesn’t feel comfortable with me in their room, another professor will accompany me at your request.  Keep in mind that you will be allowed to do these things by muggle or magical means.  Most of these items are self-explanatory.  Less obvious would be ‘unapproved visitors’.  This means no one sleeps in your room but you and your roommate. Occasional exceptions may be made with permission.  Questions so far?”

“What happens if we fail?” Neville asked.

“What? You don’t trust my cleaning charms?” Seamus asked.

Ron and Harry both laughed.

“Not particularly,” Neville said, smiling.

“Nothing that should be seen as a punishment, simply a motivational tool.  You will simply have your room inspection repeated the following day, at which time, you will hand in a short essay on which spell or method you used to remedy the issues from the previous inspection.  These skills really should have been taught to each of you at a much younger age, but that wasn’t the opinion of the faculty as a whole in previous years,” Vector said.

“We are also restating the pet rules. Even if it is just an owl, cat, or toad you will need to register the pet.  Simply let us know you have it.  Pets outside these three options will be considered on a case by case basis.  Questions on this part?” She asked.  When no one spoke, she continued. “The last one you may have questions about: no unregistered muggle items.  We are now allowing electronic devices for eighth year students only.  You will need to register each item.  This includes mobile phones, CD players and stereos, computers, televisions, you get the idea.  Also, Hogwarts is not responsible for any magical interference or damage on these items.”

“How lovely, they’re letting us have these things, but telling us that they won’t work here,” Parkinson said.

Harry hadn’t realized she and Draco had moved close enough for him to hear her whisper.  It made it hard for him to focus on the rest of Professor Vector’s impromptu meeting.  

“Darling, do you know a single cleaning spell?” Parkinson whispered.

“A couple. You?” Draco answered.

“I’ve been playing in my mother’s makeup long enough to know how to remove a stain or two,” she answered.

Harry knew he should have paid more attention to Molly’s spells. Ron may know a few things to help out.  His house was always tidy.  Well, most of it was tidy.  Not so much Ron’s bedroom.  Perhaps this was going to be more challenging than he first thought.

Professor Vector left soon after handing out the inspection lists.  Harry and Ron were much more interested in the lists than their Transfiguration essays.  

“This is a bit vague don’t you think?” Ron asked.

“Not too bad.  Bathrooms: toilet and showers clean, no standing water, no spots on mirror or fixtures, floors clean.  That’s pretty basic.  I’ve cleaned the the bathrooms at the Dursley’s enough times to know how to do that,” Harry said. “Though it would be nice to learn to do some of that magically.”

“ _Scourgify_ will take care of most of those. And look here, there’s a list of professors at the bottom.  The ones we can get help from,” Ron said.

“When are we going to have time to do that?”

“You’ve got a point there. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”

* * *

 

“We failed?” Harry asked.

“Yes, Mr Potter.  We are being quite lenient this early in the year.  You may receive three notes per inspection and still pass.  You have four,” Vector said.  

“Which are?” Malfoy asked.

“Did you receive authorization for a pet?” she asked.

“No,” Harry said, confused.

“Then I’m afraid your spider will have to go,” Vector said, pointing her wand toward a cobweb in the corner above Harry’s bed.  When Harry only stared at her, she clarified, “That was a joke.  I know it is not your pet.  It cannot be here either way.”

“It’s just a spider, it isn’t hurting anything,” he said defensively.

“If you prefer, you may take the spider outside, but cobwebs are a clear indicator that dust and debris have not been removed. There was also food in the room that is not being kept in a sealed container.”

Draco sighed heavily but did not attempt to dispute the mark against him.

“I’m sorry Mr Malfoy, but a paper box does not qualify as sealed.  There is garbage on the floor near your garbage bin.  If you are throwing wadded paper, I’d recommend improving your aim. Lastly, the unmade bed makes four.”

Harry wanted to argue.  He did make his bed.  Terribly if he were honest with himself, but he made it all the same.  

“Thank you, Professor,” Draco said. “When are we being rechecked?”

“Tomorrow morning will do.  Since you may still be adjusting to the new expectations, I will waive the essays for now,” Vector said as she headed toward the door. “Good luck tomorrow.”

Harry and Draco stood silent as they watched her leave.  As soon as the door closed, Draco stomped over to his desk where he grabbed a single tiny piece of paper from the floor and dropped it in the bin.  Harry watched as Draco opened a glass jar and dumped the remaining pieces of candy into it before screwing the lid back in place.  

“You going to stand there, or are you at least going to fix the one thing you can fix tonight?” Draco asked.

“So the spider is mine now?” Harry asked under his breath.

“Oh, and I was beginning to believe I have become invisible.  Or perhaps you are simply unable to notice or acknowledge my existence at all?”

“Really, Malfoy? You really want to fight me right now?” he asked as he put the spider on the window sill and urged it outside.

“Might as well.  Don’t know if I’ll disappear again.  I would hate to miss my opportunity,” Draco said.

“This is exactly why I haven’t said anything,” Harry said.

Draco huffed, “Do me a favor and try to make your bed in the morning.  Try to make it look like you’ve made a bed more than once in your life.”

Harry did not want to explain to Draco of all people that the first bed he remembered getting was the one he got the summer he turned twelve.  Even then, he never bothered to make that bed because once he was in that room, the Dursley’s all pretended that room never existed.  Looking at his bed now, he understood why Draco assumed there was no effort to it.  The sheet was nearly touching the floor on one side, and the blanket was at an odd angle.  It was obvious Harry had only tugged them to the headboard in hopes of looking somewhat fixed.  Maybe tomorrow morning would be a different story.

* * *

 

It was not a different story.  

Sitting with Ron and Hermione in the Great Hall was a nice change of scenery.  He would rather light his bed on fire than to stand in his room with an angry Draco Malfoy a minute longer.

“I can’t believe she failed us again! And how is it my fault that I didn’t learn how to make a bed overnight?  What was I just supposed to ask Malfoy to teach me?” Harry said around a mouthful of toast.

“Probably, yes,” Hermione said.

“I’m surprised he knows how to do it himself,” Ron said.  

Hermione gave him a pointed look.

“What?  Pureblood like him, I doubt he’s ever had to lift a finger in his life.”

Hermione didn’t say anything for a long moment.  “You do realize a lot may have changed in the past couple of years. You can’t make this into some childish and petty feud over which of you had to do more chores at home.”

Ron stared into his plate.  Harry took a deep breath.

“The last time he and I said anything to each other before last night was the day of the battle.  You might remember, it was after he and his friends burned the Room of Requirement to ashes and before Voldemort died.  How are we even supposed to move forward from that?”

“You didn’t speak to him when you gave his wand back?” Hermione asked.

Harry said nothing.

“Harry. You mean to tell me that he threw his wand into your hands in the middle of a battle, leaving himself defenseless, and you didn’t even say ‘thank you’ when you returned it?” she said.  Hermione sounded more disappointed than angry.  Somehow, that made things worse.

“‘Thank you’ just sounded too small,” Harry mumbled.

Desperate to change the subject, Ron asked, “So what now? If you only had the one point this time, why did you fail?”

“Because it was twice in a row my bed looked like I had just rolled out of it,” Harry said. “She’s coming back in tomorrow morning to recheck just the beds.”

“Relentless, that woman.  Why didn’t you warn us?” Ron said to Hermione.

“She’s not that bad.  If you think that’s difficult, you should try taking one of her classes.  She has very specific expectations,” she said, then to Harry, “I’m surprised she hasn’t assigned you homework over it yet.”

Harry finished off his toast and stared at his bag of homework beside him, “I’m not sure how much more homework I can handle at this early in the year.  We’re not even through the first week and I’m buried.”

“Would you like one of us to help you?” Hermione asked. “With the bed. Not the homework.”

“No.  I’m sure I’ll be fine.  It’s a bed.  How hard can it be?”

* * *

 

“I’m not failing another inspection because of you,” Draco said.  He stood at the foot of Harry’s bed looking down at the jumble of blankets.

“I did my best; I don’t know what you want from me,” he said.

Draco made a face at Harry.  “My first request would be for you to go brush your teeth.  Your breath smells like kneazle food.”

Harry wanted to argue, but first thing in the morning, Draco might not be exaggerating.  He stomped into the bathroom and took his time brushing his teeth.  He checked that there were not remnants of toothpaste and water on the sink or mirror just in case Professor Vector decided to check more than just the beds.  

“It is just a damned bed.  Why can’t I do this?” he muttered to himself.  He had no time to think about the answer.  When he left the bathroom, Professor Vector was already telling Draco that the bedroom had passed inspection. He quickly looked at his own bed then at Draco.

“Much better, gentlemen.  Continue this momentum into next week and you will be just fine,” Vector said.  With a twirl of her scarlet robes, she was out the door.

“Thanks,” Harry said, rubbing his hands together in a nervous gesture.

“I didn’t do it for you,” Draco said.

“Alright, I take it back.”

“Look.  Just don’t mention it and you can just owe me a favor, fair?”

“Not really.  How about you just teach me the spell or whatever and be done with it,” Harry argued.

Draco smiled at him, “I think I like you owing me a favor.  Now if you will excuse me, I’ve an arithmancy class to attend.”


	3. You Should Make Buttons

It was a strange sight to see Hermione and Draco walking together.  Harry stopped and stared at the pair of them.

“Forget the way to the Potions classroom?” Draco asked.

“Why are you with Hermione?” Harry asked.

“I’m with the entire Arithmancy class, and we’re on our way to our next class,” Draco said.  He turned to Hermione, who’d just met up with Ron. “He’ll catch up.”

Harry turned to see Ron and Hermione walk away hand-in-hand.

“They look cozy.  I suppose you need a potions partner,” Draco said.

“I’m sure I’ll find one,” Harry said.  He turned to walk away when Draco stopped him by a hand on his shoulder.

“I’ve decided how you can pay back the favor you owe me,” Draco said.

“Oh, the favor you decided I owe you with no agreement on my part? That favor?”

“Yes,” Draco said. “I need you to be my partner. For potions.”

“Partner with your girlfriend,” Harry said, shrugging off Draco’s hand.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Draco said. “I need you to be my partner.”

“Why?” Harry asked. “You don’t like me; you think I’m terrible at potions; most importantly, why the hell would I team up with you for a class that we will be taking all year when you’ve done one favor for me one time.  It’s hardly fair.”

“Then make it fair.  I’ll keep doing your bed for you,” Draco said, sounding a little desperate.

“Why?”

“Look, Potter.  Slughorn is not, shall we say, fond of me.  I need this class.  I need to do well.  If I am with you, he wouldn’t dare put you at a disadvantage just to ignore me,” Draco explained.

“Fine,” Harry said, turning toward the classroom.

Harry walked into the classroom with Draco on his heels and Ron looking at him like he was sprouting antlers.  He and Draco took the table next to Ron and Hermione.

“The hell is that about?” Ron asked.  He ignored Hermione when she kicked him under the table.

Harry only sighed and shook his head.  He unloaded his bag onto the table top to realize his quill was missing.

“You can have one of mine,” Draco said.  When Harry didn’t take it, Draco said, “There’s nothing wrong with it.  I mean, I have a terrible habit of biting the ends of my quills, but if you aren’t scared of touching something that has been on my mouth, you’re fine.”

Harry found himself a second later staring at Draco’s mouth.  

“Harry, my boy!” Professor Slughorn shouted as he entered the room. “So nice to have this fine young man in my class again!” He gave a slight nod in Draco’s direction then turned back to Harry, clapping him soundly on the shoulder.

“Nice to be here,” he said. He added a smile for good measure.

“Well, I do wish we had a moment to catch up, but we must hit the ground running, I’m afraid,” Slughorn said, continuing his way to the front of the class.  He pointed his wand to the chalkboard.  A messy script took up most of the space before them.  “You will be brewing the Draught of Peace, to be completed by the end of class.  Starting now, you have two and a half hours to complete the potion.  The remaining half hour of class will be allotted to the review of the potions made today.  Any student not finished will be allowed to continue working though points will be deducted for each minute used past the time provided.  Good luck, ladies and gentlemen.”

Pansy Parkinson reached over and tapped Draco’s shoulder for his attention, “Think I can save time by turning in some Xanax dissolved in water?  I doubt he’d notice with enough glitter and food dye.” She laughed at her own joke as she turned back to her own partner.

He was only vaguely familiar with the muggle medication, once seeing it in the Dursley’s medicine cabinet.  Reasoning that Pansy hadn’t said anything negative about the medication or the potion, he let himself admit that it was a little funny.  Draco curled his fingers against his mouth to cover his smile.  Harry couldn’t remember ever seeing him smile at a joke that was not at someone’s expense.

“What?” Draco asked.

Harry was staring.  “I’ll- I’ll just get the ingredients.  You set up the cauldron.”

“Not bloody likely,” Draco said, starting toward the supply cupboard. Harry watched him go after a ridiculously dramatic flip of his hair.

“Odd that he looks less like his father with longer hair,” Harry said.

“I swear if you’ve already gotten into that firewhisky without me,” Ron said beside him.

“Huh? Oh,” Harry turned to his cauldron, “I’ve been blackmailed.”

“I could have guessed,” Ron laughed.

“Well, not really.  He’s worried Slughorn will fail, or at least ignore him if I didn’t help him out,” Harry said as he cast a wordless _Incendio_ under the empty cauldron.

“So where’s the blackmail?”

“I guess there isn’t any.  But he asked almost nicely and he offered to take care of my bed for room inspections,” Harry said.  Even to him, it sounded weak at best.

“You’ve got him making your bed?  What next? You going to start packing his lunch or he going to start-”

“Shut up,” Harry said, shoving a palm against Ron’s arm. “What are you playing at anyway?”

“I dunno, I just figured with everything out of the way, maybe you and him, if you still, you know,” Ron said.  

“Still what?” Harry asked, barely able to follow Ron’s thoughts.

“Hermione, my sweetheart, light of my life,” Ron said grandly as soon as she approached their table.   

“Well if that wasn’t the most obvious change of subject in the history of Hogwarts,” Draco said, piling the ingredients onto the table.  “Now if you can manage to keep the knife cuts even, you can start by splitting the lavender stems.”

* * *

 

Harry was surprised by how easily they worked together.  To hear Slughorn say it, the potion was “splendid, and rather soothing even looking at it” and several other excessive compliments.  He thought their arrangement may not be as unfortunate as he first assumed.  

When Draco sat with Harry, Ron, and Hermione during the herbology class Harry only stared at him.

“Should I have asked permission?” Draco said, looking at Harry.

“Of course not,” Hermione said, saving Harry the trouble of remembering how to speak.

“So Pansy’s not taking Herbology this year?” Hermione asked.

Draco made a show of looking around the greenhouse, “Suppose not.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume.  I only thought that you two would have discussed it at some point,” Hermione said.  She was doing her best to avoid the inevitable awkward silence. Harry would have to remember to hug her for it later.

“Can’t imagine why,” Draco said.

“Are you and Pansy not, um, together?”

Draco laughed.  Again, Harry was surprised how little he looked like his father without the sneer and condescension.  “Merlin, no!” Draco said, shaking his head. “Incompatible needs no further definition than the two of us.”

“I didn’t mean to pry.  I only noticed that she has an unusual group of classes chosen.  I was curious about what she planned to do after school with the N.E.W.T.s she’s chosen,” Hermione said.

“Trophy wife,” he said automatically.

Hermione looked horrified.  Draco’s smile was shocking.  Harry thought it was so out of place, but he liked it a bit.

“I’m joking.  She owns a fashion line that just had a premier show in London last month.  Once her boutique opens, she’ll have more time to develop a line of cosmetics that doesn’t rely on magical ingredients so she can sell to a larger market,” Draco said. “Then she’ll have time to find a trophy wife.”

“I didn’t know she was into women,” Ron said, joining the conversation at last.

“Not that it matters,” Hermione added pointedly.

“Of course she’s into women,” Draco said as though this information was as obvious as daylight.  Maybe it was, and the three of them never took the time to notice. “If it’s okay, I’d like to stop talking about her.  It would boost her ego if it got back to her.”

As much as Harry wanted to pay attention to the potential advantages of cross-pollination between dittany and aconite, he could not wrap his mind around why Draco Malfoy would want to put himself into a group project with Harry and his friends.

* * *

 

Friday afternoon finally marked the end of Harry’s first week back in school.  He was more acutely aware of the year he missed.  Harry did not anticipate getting back into the routine would be as difficult as it was turning out.  He kept up with homework throughout the week and was very much looking forward to doing nothing for a couple days.

“Potter,” Draco said, barging into the room, “I have to ask.”

“Of course you do,” Harry mumbled.

Draco threw his Ancient Runes book on his desk before turning to look at Harry.  He seemed to be working through what he wanted to say.  Harry almost stood to leave the room by the time Draco spoke.

“Did our conversation about Pansy bother you yesterday?”

Harry was not expecting that. He shook his head, “Why would it?”

“You didn’t say anything.”

Harry shrugged and said, “I don’t know her.  Why would I talk about her?”

“You didn’t say anything for the rest of the class, at least not to me.  I thought maybe talking about her sexuality put you off or something,” Draco said, still standing near his desk.

“Is this really about Pansy or is this your way of asking if I’m homophobic?” Harry said.

“I forget you’re smarter than you look.”

“Thanks,” Harry said.

“You could answer.”

“You could ask your question.”

“I am only asking because I don’t want to be surprised by it if you decide one day that you’re unhappy with being thrown in with a gay roommate,” Draco said.

“I didn’t know y-” Harry stopped, he felt the conversation getting sidetracked. “I don’t care.  That’s hardly the most obnoxious part of your personality.” Harry smiled.

“Did you...Did you just joke with me?” Draco asked.

“I promise, I didn’t go quiet in Herbology because you said Pansy likes girls.  It’s weird.  We grew up so distinctly separated that being lumped together, rooming together is..” Harry hesitated.  “I am realizing how little I know people I have been around for almost a decade.”

“Do you want to get to know me, Potter?”

Before he could think about that, Dean was knocking on their door, “Harry, I need you. Before you ask, no, nothing is on fire.  You have to come to movie night.”

“What?” Draco asked.

Dean looked to Draco, “You can come, too.  We need more votes against Titanic.”

Harry and Draco stood silent.

“Padma has her telly and VCR set up in the common room, and right now, since Neville is a traitor and voted against The Fifth Element, Titanic is winning,” Dean said.  “Please.”

“Is it going to work?” Harry asked.

“Apparently Padma has been smuggling muggle items in for years.  The Ravenclaws have been doing a movie night once a month since third year.  Padma’s got spells for everything.  Still can’t get a cd player to work, though.  Padma reckons she’s the reason they put the muggle item clause into the rules this year.  If you can’t beat them, regulate them,” Dean said.  

Draco looked mildly impressed.

“Looks like we’re going to movie night,” Harry said.

* * *

 

“I don’t know why she didn’t try harder to make room,” Draco said, following Harry back into their room.  “The door was plenty big for both of them.  It only started tipping because she didn’t bother to counter-balance his weight as-”

“Sweet Merlin,” Harry muttered to himself while Draco ranted.

“And you know that she would not still have that necklace.  She changed her name, had no access to any money, started from nothing.  She would have sold that thing the moment she passed a reputable jeweler,” Draco continued. "Oh, and don't forget this. 'I'll never let go' she says as she is literally letting him go.  I know she meant it figuratively, but that seemed a poor choice of words."

“Maybe next time, you will trust Dean and vote against the movie that is two bloody tapes long,” Harry grumbled.

“You weren’t even paying attention.  The way Boot was so aggressively flirting with you, I doubt you would have noticed if we changed the movie half way through.  I think he’s got crush on you,” Draco said.

“That would explain why we were snogging on the quidditch pitch during fifth year,” Harry said.

Draco may have looked less surprised if a flock of pixies flew into the room, “You’re joking.”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh at Draco’s expression.  “Don’t judge me; Terry’s not that bad.”

“You were together in fifth year?!” Draco asked. “Since when have you been gay?”

“No, we were never officially together,” Harry said, “and since never.  I’m bisexual.”

“Well, it looks like he’s still carrying a torch for you,” Draco said.

Harry shrugged before dropping onto his bed, “He’s alright.”

“Bisexual, huh? I never would have guessed.  Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t think it mattered,” Harry said. “But if it means so much to you, you should make pride buttons for us.” Harry looked over at Draco just in time to see him blush. “You would need quite a few.  There’s me, you, Dean, Seamus, Ron, Parvati, Terry, Lisa, Pansy, I’m sure I’m missing someone and that’s just us eighth years.”

“Ron?”

“You seem to be having a hard time wrapping your head around the whole bisexual thing.”

Draco said nothing and started getting dressed for bed.

“I’m only messing around, Malfoy,” Harry said. “And about Terry? Didn’t you ever find yourself snogging one of your friends in an empty classroom?” Harry surprised himself with that question.  Sure, he grew up in a dorm room with four other blokes and had plenty of conversations like this, but that was different.  Those were his friends.  He doubted Draco wanted to be his friend.

“Never,” Draco said after a while, “I’m one of those idiots who falls in love with someone I can’t have and just refuses to get past it.  Bit difficult to get over someone you see everyday.”

“Well, that got a bit dark,” Harry said by way of apology.

“I’m going to bed,” Draco said, dimming the lights on his side of the room,  “Don’t stay up too late, we have a room inspection tomorrow morning.”


	4. Write It In Crayon

Too early the next morning, the sound of Pansy’s voice shocked Harry out of a dreamless sleep.

“You’re almost as pretty as me,” she said.

“If this makes me break out, I’m going to throw all your makeup in the lake,” Draco told her.

“You'll be fine. It's a non-magic tinted moisturizer made with the best ingredients.  I’m wearing a similar one.  And here, try this out, too.  This is the same scent as your shampoo, so I don’t want to hear anything about you not liking how it smells.  I’ve given samples of a few other things to most of the girls,” she said.  “Please, let me know how it works for you.  This isn’t a gift; you’re my test audience.”

“Fine.  You’ll get a thorough review once I use them up,” he said.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Pansy said.  “Don’t let him sleep through room inspections.  Professor V’s already started the girls’ side.”

“I’m up,” Harry said, his voice rough with sleep.  He pushed the curtains back and pulled himself to a sitting position.  He watched as Pansy’s blurry outline left the room. “You do the bathroom yet?”

“No,” Draco answered.

“I’ll take care of it,” Harry said.  He gathered clothes, his glasses, and his wand into a pile and stumbled into the bathroom.  After the world’s shortest shower, he spelled the shower dry.  Dressing just as quickly and shoving his glasses in place, he did a last minute check on the rest of the bathroom.  He walked back into their room relieved to see the bed was already made.  He finished putting the last of his things away as Professor Vector arrived for the room inspection.

* * *

 

Harry found himself staring at Draco more than once throughout the morning and was unsure why.  He was sure Professor Vector caught him staring at Draco but didn’t think Draco noticed.

“You don’t have to keep doing this,” he said when she left.

“Doing what?”

Harry gestured to his side of the room, “You don’t have to keep making my bed.  I won’t stop being your partner in Potions, and I don’t care if you sit with me in other classes.  I don’t feel right about it.”

“I don’t mind,” Draco said. “It’s reasonable repayment.”

“You could just teach me the spell.  We can call that repayment,” Harry said.

Draco shook his head.

“Hey, I know it’s none of my business,” Harry started.

“Then you should probably stop there,” Draco said.

“I lack the sense of self preservation that would make that possible,” Harry said.

Draco laughed.

“I just thought that, well, a few of us are going out this evening.  We are having something of a welcome back dinner in Hogsmeade.  You should ask your, uh, the bloke you like.  He’s still at Hogwarts, yeah?” Harry said.

Draco said, “You know, I thought Greg and Vinny were terrible wingmen.”

Harry was surprised at how long it took him to realize Draco meant Crabbe and Goyle.  He said, “They couldn’t have been that bad.”

When Draco didn’t answer, he repeated, “You should come.  Invite him and come with us.  We are meeting in the common room at five.”

“I’ll think about it.”

* * *

 

Ron and Harry sat near the fireplace in the common room well before they planned to meet.

“I’m not saying I think he likes me, but you didn’t see the way he talked about it,” Harry said.  Harry told Ron about the conversations they had, Draco’s reaction to Harry’s sexuality, and the look on his face when he was talking about Terry.

Ron stared at Harry. 

“It’s not that mental is it? I mean, he’s just been acting different.  Making my bed?  Potions partner?  Slughorn isn’t Snape.  He wouldn’t give bad marks to a student he didn’t like.  Why are you giving me that look?” Harry asked.

“Sorry, mate.  Think I just left my body there for a second,” Ron said.

“You should have seen the look on his face, he even said ‘do you want to get to know me, Potter?’ and-”

Ron elbowed Harry not at all discreetly before waving over Hermione, Dean, Seamus. “Hear they failed their inspection?” Ron asked.

“Oh, no,” Hermione said looking to Dean and Seamus.  She curled into the spot next to Ron. “Wait, you two don’t room together.”

“So we’ve been told,” Seamus said.  He and Dean took the sofa across from Harry and Ron. “We slept through our alarms this morning.  Vector didn’t like finding me in Dean’s bed.  Lucky for us, we actually slept.  Can’t imagine how she’d react to my pasty white arse first thing in the morning.”

“Now we each owe her a one paragraph essay on the safety repercussions of being in the wrong room. .  I think I’m just going to write ‘We know you’re just trying to discourage sex.  Consenting adults deserve sexual freedom.’ in purple crayon and see where that gets me,” Dean said.

“Sounds like we have a new Eighth Year slogan,” Pansy said. “Did you hear that, darling? I believe they’re onto something.”

Draco blushed.  It looked good on him.  The second this thought crossed Harry’s mind, it brought heat up into Harry’s own face which he hoped was not as noticable. 

“Everyone here?” Parvati asked, arriving with another group. “Looks like it, let’s go.”

They all filed out of the common room.  Harry fell into step next to Draco.  “Did you ask him?”

“He already had plans,” Draco said.

“Oh,” Harry said.  “Maybe next time.”

Draco flashed Harry a smile, “I’m not getting my hopes up.”

* * *

 

They trailed back into Hogwarts after dinner and several rounds of drinks.  It was nice to spend time with them without having a wand in hand.  As soon as he could manage, he fell toward the back of the group pulling Ron with him.  He repeated the exchange he had with Draco before dinner.

“The only bloke with previous plans that didn’t come tonight was Terry.  Maybe he liked Terry and not me.  What if he was trying to get to Terry through me?  Why am I getting so worked up about this?  It doesn’t matter who he likes.  He’s allowed to like people, right?” Harry rambled.

“Just tell him you like him.”

Harry stopped, “That I- that I what?”

Ron grabbed Harry’s arm and kept them walking, “Just a bunch of teaspoons aren’t we?  Get some sleep, we’re still going to see Hagrid tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Harry said.  He did not feel ready to go back to his room, but could think of no excuses to stay out any later. He and Ron walked down the boys’ hall, both swaying slightly, and parted ways at room three.

When he pushed the door open, Draco was standing at Harry’s bed with his pillow hugged to his chest and his face pressed against the fluffy end of the pillow case.

Draco stepped away quickly, taking the pillow with him, “I think I switched them when I did the beds this morning.  I’m taking mine back.”

“I didn’t ask,” Harry said.

“Mine’s softer,” Draco said, grabbing the pillow from his bed and throwing it hard in Harry’s direction.

Harry managed to catch it before it hit him in the face, “Okay.” He toed out of his shoes and threw his denims and shirt into the floor next to his hamper before falling onto his bed.  He looked up at Draco.

Draco was working his shirt buttons open when he looked up to see Harry’s gaze fixed on him.  With a huff, he grabbed his pajamas and stomped into the bathroom closing the door a little too roughly to be casual.

Harry fought to keep that glimpse of Draco’s chest off his mind.  He set his glasses on his nightstand and curled into his pillow.  He fell asleep nestled in the scent of sage and citrus.

Harry’s dreams were vivid enough to wake him before sunrise.  He refused to believe the face in his dreams belonged to anyone he knew.  Harry tried not to think about how clear the dreams were, almost to the point his hands could still feel warm skin and soft hair.  He grabbed his glasses and padded across the room and into the bathroom.  He splashed water on his face realizing too late that he did not actually want to wake himself up yet.  Setting his glasses in place, he stared at his reflection in the mirror like he was expecting an explanation.  What was wrong with him lately? 

Accepting that staring at his own reflection at some unspeakable hour of the morning would not give him any answers, he returned to his bed.  Harry curled back into blankets and noticed Draco was sleeping with his bed curtains open.  He should have brushed it off as inconsequential.  He should have placed his glasses back onto the nightstand.  He should have tried to sleep off the after dinner drinks.  All he could do was look at Draco’s sleeping face and think... _ beautiful _ .

* * *

 

Harry spent most of the following day fighting to keep his mind from wandering.  Hermione came around with some pepper-ups, but even that did little good.  He did not let that keep him from his morning visit with Hagrid or interfere with his plans to fly around the lake with Ron before dinner.

“The world isn’t ending again, is it?” Ron asked as they touched down at the edge of the water.

Harry shook his head.  

“He turn you down?”

“Who?” Harry asked.

“You’re not an owl, don’t ‘who’ me.  You’ve been mooning over him for days. Are you going to do something about it?” Ron asked.

“Not like I can.  He told me he is still in love with his ex.”

“Did he say exactly that?”

“Well, I don’t remember his exact words.  Something like, he fell in love and it didn’t work out.”

Ron sat on the grass and motioned for Harry to join him.

“Okay. Ignoring that, and if, hypothetically, he wasn’t into someone else, would that change how you are dealing with how you feel?” Ron asked.

“It doesn’t seem right to think that way.  I mean, I can’t ignore his feelings for someone else.”

“You’re taking that wrong.  I’m not saying you should ignore what he’s dealing with and act differently.  I’m asking how you would feel,” Ron said. “Know what I mean?”

“I guess,” Harry said. “I don’t know where this is coming from.”

“Maybe it’s been there for a bit longer than you think.  Now that neither of you have other people telling you who to be and what to do and how to live your life, you can decide things for yourself.  You know how much that freedom can change you,” Ron said. “Don’t get it wrong, I’m not pushing you into his arms because I think a snog and a hand job will make life any easier.”

Harry scoffed.  He shook his head, “I don’t think anything with Malfoy would make things easier.”

“You can call him Draco.”

“I don’t know that I can.  Draco seems like a different person than Malfoy.”

“Maybe he is.”

* * *

 

Ron’s words followed him in a way he could not shake.  Objectively, Harry understood that Draco is still the prick who gave him hell as a kid.  Draco is still the one who broke Harry’s nose.  Draco is the one who called Hermione a slur neither Harry nor Hermione even knew, and Draco is still the one who helped Death Eaters get into Hogwarts.  

Given time to think about it, Harry also knew that Malfoy is the same person who was scared for his life, for his parents lives and was ready to do anything to keep them safe.  Malfoy is the one who saved his life more than once.  Malfoy is the same one that lied to Bellatrix to save him.  Malfoy was the one person, the only person at all, to run to his rescue when Harry stood before Voldemort with no wand, no chance, when he was just a boy who did not know how to die without a fight.  

Even if Harry could understand that Malfoy, Draco, was more than the sum of a select few of his past actions, would Draco feel the same?  If anyone was willing to look under the hero exterior the wizarding world forced upon him, they would also see many faults, cruelties, and failures in Harry.  Draco had never shied away from seeing Harry in his entirety.  Harry did not want to guess which direction this tipped the scales for him.

Now that they were back in Hogwarts, each day was full of chances to notice what he overlooked before.  Harry wondered if Draco was always this dramatic.  He quickly decided that, yes, Draco has always been dramatic.  It was harder to remember if Draco was always this funny or if he always smiled this much.  Harry remembered Draco was intelligent.  Draco and Hermione were the top of their class when they were young.  Draco had his curiosity more piqued than before.  

On top of everything else, a week of pretending not to watch Draco get ready for bed or get dressed in the mornings left his hands aching to touch any part of him, almost just to see if he was real.  Sitting so close to him during the new tradition of weekly movie night set his nerves on edge.  By the time everyone was seated, crammed together on sofas and bean bags, he was shoved against Draco.  Touching from shoulder to knee, it was impossible to miss the way Draco tensed when Terry sat in the floor in front of Harry.  Less easy to notice was the way Draco was staring daggers at Terry when he leaned back onto Harry’s legs as the movie played.  Discomfort and awkwardness finally faded near the end of the film when Draco fell asleep against Harry’s shoulder.  Harry relaxed and allowed himself hover at the edge of sleep, embraced by the scent of sage and citrus.


	5. I Choose You

Harry woke up early on Saturday morning.  After making sure the bathroom and his part of the room were inspection ready, he sat on his bed with the GameBoy he borrowed from Seamus. 

“Hey. Bulbasaur, Squirtle, or Charmander?” Harry asked when Draco came out of the bathroom.

“Bless you,” Draco answered.

Harry laughed. “Pick one, I can’t decide.”

“I forgot what you said.  The ‘char’ one.  What am I choosing?” Draco asked.

“My pokemon starter,” Harry said, “and you just picked a Charmander for me.”

“Don’t you have something more useful to do?” Draco asked, changing the subject.

“Nope.”

“Okay, well, I do. You should go see if Vector has started inspections yet.”

Harry shook his head, “She hasn’t, but I know she’s starting with our hallway this week.”

Draco hesitated, “Well, if you wanted to take the bathroom now, it’s free.”

“I’m fine.  I got up early.  Beat you to it this time,” Harry said, not looking up from his game.  For a couple long minutes, there was no sound but electronic music.

“Did I do something wrong?” Draco asked.

“Of course not.  I have.  Now, I’m determined to fix that.  I’m not getting off this bed until you agree to teach me the spell you use to do the beds,” Harry said.

Draco walked up to the side of Harry’s bed and crossed his arms, “We had a deal.”

“No, you made a deal on your own.  I asked Ron, but he doesn’t know the words and since I’m not familiar with it, I can’t learn it wordlessly.  So, I need your help,” Harry said.

Draco grabbed the GameBoy and pulled it roughly from Harry’s hands. “I’m trying to offer my help, but you won’t get out of the way.”

“Fine, if you won’t teach me, I’ll do it myself.  When Vector waltzes into our room and asks why I’ve done such a shit job, I’ll just tell her it’s only my third time making a bed.  Then I’ll go on a long winded rant about how I did not realize for years that house elf labor was the reason my bed was always made for me.  You know how much she loves tearing down the Hogwarts policies involving the house elves.  I’m sure that will make for a fantastic morning.” 

Draco said nothing.

“I’ve already said I won’t back out of the Potions thing.  You can’t really believe that the only reason I’m spending time with you is because you fix my bed,” Harry said.

Draco looked down to the game still making noise in his hands.  He switched it off and set it on the nightstand.

“Hey!  I didn’t save my game,” Harry said.

“Oh, no.  You lost two whole minutes of your progress.”

Seeing that they were not any closer to coming to an agreement, Harry sat up.  He rumpled the blankets as he scooted to the edge of the bed, letting his legs hang over the side.  Draco was close enough that he was standing between Harry’s knees.  Harry looked up at Draco and decided that being aggressively insistent was not going to work.  

“Please, Draco,” He said.  His voice came out softer than he intended. Too late, Harry realized what he said.

Draco took a couple steps back.  “I don’t know one.”  

Draco’s words were barely audible over the noise in Harry’s head.  Harry wondered if Draco noticed what name he called him.  Maybe Draco didn’t notice Harry using his first name.  And maybe he wouldn’t notice grass is green or that the lake has a giant squid in it.  For the first time, the room seemed very small.

“You don’t-” Harry’s mind wandered too far from their conversation. “What?”

“I don’t know a spell to make a bed.  It’s not like grew up doing this either,” Draco said, avoiding eye contact.

“You don’t?” Harry asked.

Draco rolled his eyes. He grabbed Harry’s arm and pulled him to his feet, “Move.”

Standing to the side, Harry watched as Draco roughly pulled the blankets and sheet to the end of Harry’s bed before straightening them layer by layer.  Seeing Draco stretched across his bed added vivid details to so many of his half-formed fantasies.  At one point, Draco reached across the bed for the edge of a blanket causing his shirt to ride up.  Harry wanted to push Draco the remaining few inches down onto the bed, wanted to see Draco’s hair tousled over his pillow, wanted to know what it felt like to be between his sheets and Draco’s skin.  Draco quickly tucked and folded corners, lined the edges up evenly, and finally dropped Harry’s pillow onto the bed.  With his palms flat against the pillow, he gave it a quick fluff before smoothing out the last of the wrinkles. 

Draco turned to Harry and said, “There.  It’s not that hard.”

“Like hell it’s not,” Harry said, not at all talking about making the bed.

“Well,” Draco said, gesturing to the bed, “there you have it.”

Harry couldn’t look away from Draco, “That explains some things.”

“What?”

“I didn’t realize you were touching my bed,” Harry said.

“Look, if you didn’t want me to-” Draco said, ready to defend himself.

“It isn’t a problem,” Harry hesitated, “My bed smells like you sometimes. Like your lotion maybe?”

Draco glanced down at his hands, clasping them together in a show of nervous energy.  “I’m sorry.  Maybe I put too much on.”

“I’m not complaining,” Harry said, “and it seems like it’s very good lotion.”  He took Draco’s hands in his, running his thumbs over the tops of Draco’s fingers. “It does smell nice.” Harry stepped forward until he could smell the hint of sage and citrus on Draco’s skin.  He was close enough that he could feel Draco’s breath on his face.  He tried to look up into Draco’s eyes, but his gaze never made it past Draco’s lips.

Harry wanted to lean in, wanted too badly to feel Draco’s lips against his own.  His heart was pounding in his chest.  He knew Draco must feel the trembling in his fingers.  Harry wanted desperately to kiss Draco.  If only he could make himself ask if Draco wanted it, too.

There was the barest shadow of doubt in his mind, the worry that Draco might not want the same thing.  Harry had no problem taking “no” for an answer, but never before had his hopes been so very high.  Harry reminded himself of Draco saying he had feelings for someone else.  

It was different when there was obvious shared attraction.  When Harry knew the other person was just as into him as he was them, a rushed and eager “can I?” was about all the permission he asked.  Draco was a puzzle Harry could not figure out.  One moment, he was sure the smiles and the glances in his direction meant something.  Harry was convinced Draco was trying to subtly bring up the issue of his own unrequited feelings for Harry.  Another moment, Draco was his roommate, only a roommate he did not even know that well.  Harry wanted to change that.  He wanted to know everything, starting with how Draco tasted.

A knock at the door made Harry’s decision for him.  He pulled his hands from Draco’s and stepped away.  The further away from Draco he was, the more he was convinced he misread the entire situation. 

“Good morning, Professor,” Harry said.  He stepped aside, letting Professor Vector into the room, leaving the door open behind them.  

“Good morning, gentlemen,” she said to them, stopping in the center of the room. “Would you like me to verbally walk you through the inspection or only review any missed points?”

“Review is fine,” Harry said.

“Mr Malfoy?”

“Fine,” he answered her.

She looked between the two before asking, “Not having a bit of a squabble are we?  I trust we can all be adults and work things through.”

Before Harry could say something evasive without being altogether untrue, Draco said, “Movie night ran late.  We’re tired.  We’ll get over it.”

“I’d more likely forgive your grump if you told me you were up late finishing your homework for my class,” she said to Draco.

Draco smiled at her, “If I finished it last night, how would Hermione and I spend this lovely Saturday?”

She laughed and moved to the bathroom to start the inspection.  Harry stood, counting stones in the wall and unable, or at least unwilling, to look at Draco.  He lost himself in the counting until Professor Vector said his name.

“Mr Potter,” she repeated. “I don’t have that registered to you.” She was pointing to the GameBoy on his nightstand.

“It isn’t mine.  I borrowed it from Seamus,” he said.

She flipped to the back of her spiral notebook to check a list, “Is his name on it?” 

“Should be, you can check.  I don’t mind,” he said.  “Since when do any of the professors use spiral notebooks?”

“Since always.  Have you ever tried to write a few hundred digits on a single piece of parchment?  It’s a wretched mess.  I would not dare say it to most of the faculty, but I am convinced that a great deal of the parchment and quill use serves only an aesthetic purpose.  Oh, and look at this!” she said.  

More excited than Harry could remember seeing her, she shoved her quill toward him.  He took it.  

“Here, write your name,” Vector said, holding her notebook out for him.

He scrawled his name across the bottom of the paper...in pencil.  He looked closer.  It was a pencil.  The ostrich plume hid the eraser, but it was a feathered pencil.  “We could have been using these the whole time?”

Vector shook her head. “The Weasley boys only started selling these a few years ago.  I have always hated that we teach you to write only in ink with quills and insist you use spells in place of erasers.  It seemed too much like we were teaching you that you are not allowed to make mistakes.  Even worse, that magic is the only way to fix those mistakes.  I have very little say in the matter, having not been a student here myself, but…” she shrugged. “Well, great job today gentlemen.  Wonderful improvement.”

She turned in her signature flourish and twirl, sending her skirt swooshing after her.  It was amazing how she never seemed to shut them in the door on her way out of the rooms.

“She must like you, she didn’t even finish our inspection,” Draco said.  Then he was out the door as well.

* * *

 

Except for the time he spent during a late lunch with Ginny and Luna, Harry spent most of his Saturday doing a speed run through the game he borrowed.  Well into the evening he was struggling through the final battle.  Harry had made the mistake of not training a wide enough variety of pokemon types.  He was down to his last pokemon, and he knew by now that throwing Charizard up against Blastoise was near guaranteed failure, but Blastoise had already used up his HydroPump and Blizzard knocking Harry’s Arcanine.  

Harry watched as the last of his luck pulled through and he finished off Gary’s Blastoise with Charizard’s Rage attack, “Yeah! Fuck you, Gary!”

Hermione swatted at him, “This is why you boys should not have video games.”

“Sorry, when did you get back?”  He asked.  “It’s bloody late,” he said, looking around the common room.

“Just now.  Professor Vector begins and ends her semester with an insanely extensive partner assignment.  Draco and I only got back a few minutes ago,” she said, taking a seat in the overstuffed chair across from Harry.

“You’re Draco’s partner,” Harry said, remembering they were the only two in the class. “Are you two okay?” 

“We’ve been working very well together.  We don’t talk about the things from before,” Hermione paused for a moment.  “I think that’s as close to an apology either of us can come.”

“You really think you have things to apologize for? To him?” Harry asked.

“It’s complicated.  And if I can ever put it into words, it will likely only be to him,” she said.

Harry nodded, not sure if he understood.  After a few moments he asked, “Hermione? Does he ever talk about me?”

“How do you mean?”

“Never mind.”

“We haven’t said much of anything. Our assignment really is as grueling as I’m making it out to be.  Do you know how arithmancy works?”

“Your humor truly is unparallelled,” Harry said.

“Prat,” she said. “We calculate the numerical value of words and phrases.  Sometimes full paragraphs.  Those numerals are used in a more structured form of divination.  He and I had to write letters to one another in a form of free-writing that followed an open conversation-”

“I stopped listening somewhere around numerical values,” Harry interrupted. “You can blame it on video games melting my brain.”

“Fine.  I’ll put it in simple statements.  He talked about you.  He said you were roommates.”

“Oh my god, we were roommates?” Harry asked, feigning shock.

“Ask him then.  You two seem to be friendly now.” 

“Is that okay?”

Hermione considered the question for a moment, “I think we all need friends right now.”

As much as he wanted to take comfort in her support, he could not help but wonder if she would still be so supportive if she knew he was starting to think of something more than friendship.


	6. What Did I Miss?

Harry woke Sunday to the sound of muffled expletives.  Pansy was in his room again.  He removed the weakened silencing charm from around his bed and immediately regretted it.

“I said get out of my room, you bloody banshee!” Draco shouted.

“You told me you would go to brunch with Lisa and me!  I can find you a date if you don’t want to be a third wheel,” Pansy said much louder than necessary.

“I did not agree!  If you would just woman up and ask her on a proper date, you would not need to drag me out of bed as a sad attempt at making this look like a regular social brunch.  It's too late for brunch anyway,” Draco said, pulling his blankets out of her hands and falling back into his bed.

“Harry Potter! You’re up.  You two get dressed.  We’re getting brunch.  Common room, fifteen minutes.  Don’t make me come back for you,” she said.  She left the room, slamming their door behind her.

“What just happened?” Harry asked.  

Draco only answered with a groan.  

“You must have gotten back late,” Harry said.

“Sorry, Mother.  I won’t miss curfew again,” Draco said without looking Harry’s way.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Harry said.  He kicked the covers off and started pulling together what he hoped was appropriate clothing for brunch.  Harry dressed quickly and was only in the bathroom long enough to cover the essentials.  Stepping back into the bedroom area, Draco looked up at him.

“You are accepting an invitation under threat?  If you show any sign of weakness, you’re done for,” Draco said.

“What’s the matter?  You are usually much more of a morning person,” Harry said.

“My current mood is her fault.  I was kidnapped and tortured by her last night. Experimented on, to be exact.  I had to give a full review of her latest hair mask before she would even let me leave-”

“Hair mask?” Harry interrupted.

“Please don’t make me relive it.”

Harry laughed.  “So are we going?”

“You are willingly allowing yourself to be bullied into a double date?  Poor Turpin probably won’t even realize it’s a date until we’re at the cafe.  Even worse, she’ll think you’re dating me.”

“Why is that the ‘even worse’ part? Oh-” Harry realized, “You don’t want your crush thinking you’re dating me?” he tried to tease.

Draco scoffed at the word ‘crush’ but only said, “What will Terry have to say when he thinks you are on a date with me?”

Harry’s chest felt tight. “Take him then,” he said. Of course, Draco didn’t want Harry.  

“What?”

“I don’t want him.  If you are worried about some kind of bros before, uh, other bros thing then don’t be.  I’m not trying to get with him. If you want to take him on Pansy’s date thing you should,” Harry said.  He looked over at Draco.  Draco was staring back at him.

“You’re unbelievable,” Draco said, sounding less than pleased.

“I’m getting out of here before I have to be the one to explain the change of plans to Pansy,” Harry said.  He grabbed the GameBoy and headed off to find Seamus.

* * *

 

Harry did not expect to find Seamus in his own room.  His first guess would be to check in Ron and Dean’s room.  He knocked and heard a muffled response. He opened the door and saw Ron sitting at his desk with his potions book.

“Hey, I was starting to think I wasn't going to see you today,” Ron said.   

“I’ll send Rita an owl.  She can put it in the Prophet.  ‘Harry Potter: Awake’.  Seems to be a surprise to everyone this morning,” Harry said.

“You were up late playing that bloody game.  I don’t think you even notice when we all left. Looks like you’re still attached at the thumbs.” Ron said and pointed to the game in Harry’s hands.

“I finished already.  I think I did the absolute minimum possible to still complete the game,” Harry said. “I didn't bother to check Seamus’ room. He's here, right? .”

Ron pointed toward Dean’s bed.  Harry turned to see Dean and Seamus curled around each other. It was a sight Harry saw a thousand times, but this time it felt like he was intruding.  Harry wanted that.  The realization startled him.  The thought of blonde hair, pale skin, and those ridiculous silk pajamas curled up against him clouded out all his other thoughts for a moment.  Until now, he assumed his recently acknowledged attraction to Draco was only about sex.  It was a hell of a time for such a revelation, what with Terry bloody Boot spending the morning with Draco while Harry pretends to be supportive.  Terry was a nice guy, but how did Draco find him any less boring than Harry did?

“They’re asleep and you’re nagging me on my sleeping habits?” Harry said.

“Having a nap.  If they’re asleep at all,” Ron said, then pointed to the game again.  “You can probably just drop that on Dean’s desk. Seamus will see it.”

Harry stepped toward Dean’s desk before Ron grabbed his arm.

“Fair warning, there’s a Muffliato on this half of the room,” Ron said before letting Harry go.

Even with the warning, the music was jarring.  Harry sat the game down and turned to leave.

“Done already?” Seamus asked.

Harry swore, “How did you hear me over that?”

Dean reached over to the cassette player and turned down the volume, “We’re listening.”

“To someone being possessed by the devil?” Harry asked.

“Not far off.  It’s the Jekyll and Hyde cast recording,” Seamus said.  

“Seamus would leave me for Linda Eder in a second if she promised to sing to him every day,” Dean said.

“I’d commit crimes to see it on stage.  It’s cooler than it sounds.  This guy starts going all ‘mad scientist’, then there’s his fiance and a prostitute, and there’s murder and a huge scandal,” Seamus paused, “I promise it’s better than I’m making it sound.”

“I’ve got some time to kill, if the tape’s almost done, I could borrow it if you don’t mind.  I would only keep it for as long as the cassette runs,” Harry said.

“Hell with that,” Seamus said.  He climbed over Dean and hit the rewind button on the cassette player, “we’ll start over for you.  I’d say go get Neville and we could have a dorm reunion, but I’m pretty sure Hannah stayed in my room last night.”

“So much for the ‘sleep in your own room’ rule, yeah?” Harry said.

“My crayon-written essay was persuasive enough to get them off our backs about it,” Dean said. “If Vector gives it back, I’m framing it.”

“So what are you hiding from on this fine afternoon?” Seamus asked.  Sitting up on the bed, he motioned for Harry to have a seat in the desk chair.

“What makes you think I was hiding?” Harry asked.

“You were going to listen to a full length cast recording by yourself, for starters,” Dean said.

“I am not hiding.  Pansy woke me up screaming about needing Draco to come along on a brunch date she has with Lisa.  Then she told me to come along so Draco wasn’t a third wheel.  But he mentioned Terry, so I told Draco to take him instead,” Harry said.  “I am not hiding; I’m avoiding Pansy.”

Dean sat up when Harry mentioned Terry, “Wait, Draco’s with Terry? Pay up.” He nudged Seamus with his elbow.

“Bet’s still open until we have proof,” Ron said.  

“Start to feel left out?” Harry asked.

“Nah, finished reading the chapter a couple minutes ago,” he turned to Dean and Seamus.  “Until confirmed, the bet is still open.”

“What bet?”

Ron said, “We’ve got a bet going, but it involves Draco and you’re disqualified from betting.”

“Why?”

“Cause you’re his roommate,” Dean said too quickly.

“Why would that matter?”

They exchanged glances. “You could tell him what our bet is, then sabotage it,” Seamus said.

“Hey, look, the cassette is done rewinding,” Dean said, pulling attention back to Jekyll and Hyde.

“Get comfortable.  This is awesome,” Seamus said.

* * *

 

“I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that bad,” Harry said.

Ron nodded.

“I don’t think I would listen to the whole thing through again,” Harry said.  “I didn’t realize I missed rooming with the rest of you.  It isn’t like I don’t see you every day.”  

“I know what you mean.  I’ve never been able to sleep when it’s too quiet,” Ron said, “Never thought I’d be glad to have Seamus snoring on the other side of the room again.”

Harry and Ron spotted Hermione the moment they walked into the library.  She was sitting at one of the tables with Draco. She gathered an intimidating stack of homework back into her bag and sorted through loose papers and note cards.  

Hermione smiled up at them and motioned for them to sit, “Sorry, this might take a couple minutes”

“You know that watching you play with your homework is one of the things I’ve always loved about you,” Ron said.

Draco scoffed but didn’t look up.

“Do you still want me to help you go over the chapter Slughorn assigned?” Hermione asked.

“Nah, I’m alright.  Got that read this morning,” Ron said.

“Are you sure?  I don’t mind,” Hermione said, tucking the last of her homework and pencil-quills into her bag.

“Fine, if it will keep you from going mental about it.  Harry, you coming along?” Ron said.

Hermione shook her head. “I’m sure Harry’s fine.  Besides, maybe he would rather go over potions with his own potions partner,” she said, pointing at Draco.

“You could just tell him you’re trying to get him alone for a shag.  Spare us all the display of Ron’s lack of subtlety,” Draco said.

Harry laughed. Ron’s face blushed a bright red and Hermione looked scandalized.  “I most certainly am n-” Hermione paused, “I mean, uh.  I guess I am trying to get you to...just you and I…”

“Sweet Merlin, just leave,” Harry said.

Hermione took Ron by the hand and led him out of the library under the scrutinizing stare of Madam Pince.  Harry suppressed another laugh, not wanting to earn a glare from Madam Pince as well.

“How was your brunch?” Harry asked, trying not to sound as awkward as he felt about the situation.

“I didn’t go,” Draco said.  “My preferred date didn’t want to go; I needed the sleep; Hermione and I had a project that needed to be finished.”

“Terry said no?”

Draco sighed heavily.  “Harry Potter,” Draco said, “Terry is completely gone for you.  How have you come to the conclusion that-”

Harry looked up in time to see Terry crossing the library toward them, “Oh, look.  Here’s your chance to talk it out.”  He stood up and ducked into one of the rows of arithmancy and muggle mathematics books.  He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Harry, hi,” Terry said.  “I feel like I haven’t had a chance to get you all to myself.”

“Sorry?”

“I know I’ve got some pretty tough competition, but I really hoped you and I could spend some time together this week,” Terry said, grabbing the drawstring on the hood of Harry’s jumper.

Harry glanced over at the table where he’d left Draco only to find it vacant, “Sorry, what?”

“I mean, I don’t need you to put a label on it if you don’t want to go out with me officially.  I would like to maybe hang out, though,” Terry said.

Harry was blindsided.  Competition?  Terry was asking him out?  What about Draco?

“I feel like you’re trying to plan out the let’s-just-be-friends speech in your head,” Terry said.  He let go of Harry’s jumper and took a small step back. “It’s fine. I kinda guessed I was making my move a little too late.  If that doesn’t work out, you know where to find me.” Terry winked.  With a smile too bright to be completely real, Terry turned and left.

“What the hell did I miss?” Harry whispered to himself.

* * *

 

The rest of the day was a jumble of last minute reading for potions and wondering how he ended up in such a crap situation.  When Harry finally went to bed for the night, he did not expect to fall asleep easily.  His thoughts crowded each other and presented more questions than answers.  What did Terry mean he waited too long?  What competition?  Maybe Harry was right that Draco did fancy him and it was not just wishful thinking.

He stared at the ceiling, wondering if he would ever be able to fall asleep.  In the dark without his glasses, it was easy to forget he was staring at anything at all.

Draco shifted in his own bed on the other side of the room. “Could you think a little more quietly, please?  Or cast a silencing charm?” Draco asked. His voice was loud in the relative silence.

“You can hear-” Harry started.

“I can hear you sighing every ten seconds!” Draco said, almost shouting. “I’m not digging through your thoughts.”

“Sorry,” Harry said, trying with renewed conviction to clear his thoughts and get some bloody sleep.  

Barely two minutes passed before he heard Draco moving again, “Har- uh, Potter?”

“I’ll do the charm,” he said, reaching for his wand.

“No, that’s not it,” Draco said.  When he continued, it was barely more than a whisper, “Why didn’t you kiss me yesterday?”

“What?” Harry asked.  His heart was pounding and suddenly the entire world was too quiet.

“I thought, yesterday,” Draco said, “I thought you were going to kiss me.”

“Thought about it,” Harry said, surprised at his own answer.  

“Why?”

“Why did I think about it?”

“Why didn’t you kiss me?”

Harry thought for a minute; he never had to put this into words before.  “I couldn’t make myself ask if it was okay when I didn’t think it would be okay at all.  You’ve told me more than once you have feelings for someone else.”

“Did I?” Draco asked.

Harry did not know how to answer that.

“Do you always ask permission?” Draco asked.

“Some people have a hard time saying no.  Unless I get a ‘yes’ I assume they are telling me no,” Harry said.  He was going to stop there.  Maybe he felt bolder saying more in the darkness of their room, or maybe he was just tired enough not to care.  Whatever the reason, he continued, “It’s complicated for me with those idiots at the Prophet and Witch Weekly trying to make me a celebrity. It’s easy for someone to think they will be okay with what happens in a fantasy, but I’m not a fantasy.  I’m a person. I feel more comfortable with an obvious yes.  Especially the first time, or if I’m going farther with someone than we’ve gone before.”

“I can say no,” Draco whispered.

“Well, I feel better knowing I stopped before you needed to say no,” Harry answered.

“So intelligent and so stupid at the same time,” Draco said, his frustration evident.

“What?”

Harry could hear Draco getting out of bed.  Sitting up, Harry could see Draco crossing the room in the low light.  He stopped next to the bed and grabbed Harry’s glasses off the nightstand. He carefully slid them into place on Harry’s face.  

“Look at me,” Draco said.

Harry couldn’t look away if he tried.  

Draco sat on the edge of Harry’s bed and whispered a single word, “Yes.”  If Draco was not practically in his lap, Harry wouldn’t have heard him.

“Yes what?” Harry asked.

“Yes anything.  Yes everything.  Yes, Harry,” Draco said, this time loud and clear, “Yes until I say no.”

Harry felt his own heartbeat all the way to his fingertips.  “Are you sure you’re okay with this? With me?”

“If I said no, would you demand an explanation or would you accept it?”

Harry didn’t have to think about it, “Accept it.”

“Then accept that I’m saying yes,” Draco leaned forward and stopped a breath away from Harry’s mouth and whispered again, “Yes, Harry.”

Harry pressed a soft kiss against Draco’s mouth.  Harry’s fingers were grasping the bed sheets so tightly they ached.  This wasn’t enough.  He held back, allowing himself nothing more than the soft, light kisses that were igniting every desire inside him.

Draco pulled away, and before he went back to his own bed, he leaned in close once more. He kissed Harry’s cheek and said, “Goodnight, Harry.”

Harry knew the moment he saw Draco’s shy smile that this was a mistake.  Harry was falling; he was falling hard for someone who might not want him for anything more than a few kisses hidden in the moonlight.   There was no reason to believe that they could have something more and a terrible risk that Harry would fall for someone who would never feel the same.  However, if it meant Harry could kiss Draco again then even a single, tiny chance was worth it.


	7. Nervous

When Harry woke the next morning, Draco was already gone.  Disappointment was quickly covered by relief.  He did not know what he would have said or done.  How was he supposed to act around Draco after last night?  Harry reminded himself that it was only a kiss.  He had plenty of kisses before.  This one should not have left him so shaken.  Rubbing his hand over his mouth as though it would soften the memory, he got up to face his day.

* * *

 

The next couple weeks of classes left very little free time for anyone.  Draco and Hermione were taking the maximum allowed seven classes.  Harry and most of others were taking five.  With the workload he was dealing with, he did not know how Hermione and Draco were staying sane.  He was gone every morning when Harry woke up and often didn’t get to sleep until the same time time or later than Harry.

Harry was grateful for the homework and the distractions it provided.  Most of the professors promised things would slow down a bit after the reviews and opening assignments were completed.  After all, they were trying to refresh everything they learned in their sixth year before moving on to what should have been taught in seventh. 

Friday afternoons were quickly becoming sacred.  Movie nights were the cause and cure for a great deal of shouting and debating.  The only time everyone agreed on anything was the unanimous decision against watching “Anaconda”.  Despite the squabbling, most everyone showed up and had a great time.

The common room was rearranged to make room for a mountain of pillows, blankets, and bean bags.  The movie nights were starting to have more of a sleepover vibe to them.  Mostly, it was something to do together that didn’t involve studying or anything that happened last year or earlier.

When Harry made his way into the common room, he found Hermione sitting with Padma.  Surprising enough, Padma was shuffling a deck of tarot cards. He took a seat at the small table between the two of them.

“I didn’t know you did tarot readings,” he said.

“She doesn’t,” Hermione said.

“If Parvati does then so can I,” Padma said.

“Where is Parvati?” Harry asked.

“What do I look like?  Her chaperone? Just because we’re twins I’m supposed to know where she is all hours of the-” 

Harry was already laughing by the time Hermione interrupted saying, “No, no! I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way.  It’s only that you’re roommates and maybe she said something.”

Padma broke into a wide grin and winked at Harry.

“I’m kidding! She’s visiting Lavender this weekend,” Padma said.

“How is Lavender?” Hermione asked.  Harry wasn’t sure if she was asking out of courtesy or genuine interest.  

“As well as can be expected.  After getting bitten, she’s, eh, she’s sensitive.  Parvati doesn’t seem too shaken when she gets back from her visits, so I’m going to assume she’s well enough.  I haven’t gone to see her.  She still doesn’t do too well with a lot of company,” Padma’s voice went quiet.  After a deep breath, her bubbly exterior was back in place, “Now pick a card, any card.  Don’t let me see it.”

“Are you sure this is how it works?” Hermione asked.

“No one knows how it works,” Padma said, thrusting the cards toward her. “Take one, look, put it on the table.”

Hermione grabbed for a card and, after a quick glance, placed it on the table face down.  Padma smacked her hand over the card loudly.  She raised her hand, the card stuck to her palm. 

“Is this your card?” she asked.

“Obviously,” Hermione said.  

Padma look at the card, “Oh look, you chose The Lovers!  You know what this means!”

Harry was ready for some low-brow comedy. Hermione was not so enthusiastic.

“You’re in love!  Or you have decisions?  Maybe there is a fork in the road.  It could mean there is harmony because you chose the right thing!” Padma said.

“I’m pretty sure you’re just making up rubbish,” Hermione said.

Padma pressed her fingertips to her forehead, “Your doubt is clouding my inner eye.  The sight is a fickle thing!  Tell me, ‘Mione, do you believe in the tarot? Do you...believe?”

“Oh hell, somebody stop her!” Seamus yelled from across the common room.

Padma’s eyes lit up, “Do you believe in the tarot cards?” She was doing something between singing and shouting “I can  _ feel _ some _ thing _ in _ side _ me SAY! You really don’t find them all that real, noooo!”

Seamus threw a sofa pillow at her and Lisa started a one-woman dance party.  Padma climbs up on her chair and keeps singing, “What am I supposed to do? Sit around and read for you?  Well I can’t do that!  Just put the cards back!” 

Harry was laughing harder than he had in weeks, Padma was completely mental.  Even Hermione seemed to think it was a little funny.

“Well I KNOW I SEE THE FUTURE! I don’t need these anymore! I don’t need these anymore, I don’t need these anymore,” Padma, still dancing on her chair throws the tarot cards into the air, “No! I don’t need them anymore!  I don’t believe in those tarot cards.  I can feel something inside me say, ‘we make it all up anyway, oooh!”   

The last word was less a shout and more of a squeak as she toppled from her chair and landed squarely in Harry’s lap and almost kicking Hermione.  Still laughing so hard his cheeks hurt, he looked up just in time to see Draco and Pansy walk into the common room.  Harry didn’t think anything of the fact he was holding Padma until he saw the look on Draco’s face.

Lisa ran right into Pansy’s arms, “You missed it!  Padma just did an improv parody of that muggle song I had you listen to!  It was brilliant!  She was dancing on the chair and everything!  I mean, she fell and nearly knocked Potter into the floor, but, oh, I wish you had seen it!”

Draco looked a little less like he wanted to set the place on fire after Lisa shouted at Pansy.  After Draco practically avoided him for weeks, Harry decided a little jealousy looked good on him.  

“Okay, people, please don’t step on the cards.  If Parvati catches me playing with them as props while I pimp myself out for cheap laughs again, she will tie me up and throw me in the lake,” Padma said, pulling herself out of Harry’s lap.  She took her wand from the table and gathered the cards.  “And how dare you try to keep me from performing!  I’m an artist!” she screamed.  She threw the pillow back at Seamus.

“I thought I was here for dinosaurs, and I’m greeted with the familiar sight of people throwing themselves at Harry Potter,” Draco said.

“Throwing myself?” Padma feigned outrage, “I fell into his open arms like the Prince Charming hero that he is! Didn’t hurt you did I?”

“I’m fine.  You’re tiny,” Harry reassured her.

“For now! I think I’ve gained weight since the term started now that they’re actually cooking food I eat.  Did you try the potato curry last night?  It was so good I could have cried.” Without waiting for an answer, she bounced away.

“She’s chaos with legs,” Draco said, sitting in the seat Padma left empty.

Hermione nodded her agreement. “Apparently, she’s always been like this.  Parvati is about ninety percent of Padma’s impulse control.  Lisa and Terry never seem surprised by her.  I can’t imagine what she’s been like in their common room for the past several years.”

At the mention of Terry’s name, Draco’s polite exterior faltered for the briefest of moments.

Looking from Harry to Draco, Hermione said, “I’d better find Ron.  He’ll be so disappointed if we don’t get a good spot for the movies.  We’re doing a double feature, you know?  Both Jurassic Park movies.” She left them alone, giving Harry’s shoulder a quick squeeze as she rounded the table.

“You going to make that face every time Terry is mentioned for the rest of the year?” Harry asked.

“I know he asked you out,” Draco said.  Though indirectly, it was answer enough.

“You know I said no, then,” Harry said.

“I know you didn’t say much of anything.”

“Hm.  And I thought you took off before all that.  I also thought you were being pissy about him because he was your secret unrequited love.”

“This is the worst time and place for this conversation.  Do you like dinosaurs?” Draco asked.

It took a moment for Harry to follow.  “Draco? Are you asking me to be your date for movie night?” He smiled when he saw Draco blush.  He tapped Draco’s leg with his own socked foot.  “Hey, if you are asking, I’m saying yes.”

“Yes what?” Draco said, smiling back.

“Yes: I want you to curl up against me in front of a dozen of our classmates while we watch a movie about dinosaurs,” Harry said.  He reached across the table to Draco’s hand.  He traced over the back of Draco’s hand with his fingertips.  “I’ll even share my pepper imps and popcorn.”

“That combination sounds ghastly,” Draco said, pulling his hand away.  He glanced around the common room.  “The snack combination, I mean.”  

“No problem,” Harry said.  “I’ll save you a seat if you change your mind.”

“What do you mean?  I told you before.  It’s yes until I say no.”

“Pulling away is a pretty loud no,” Harry said.

Draco pulled his wand from his sleeve and cast a quick _Muffliato_.  “What? I’m not allowed to be nervous?”

“Nervous?”

“We’re in a room full of people and my heart is beating in my throat.”

“You were right earlier.  This is the worst time and place for this conversation,” Harry said, “If only there were a place where you and I could be alone and undisturbed.  If only I had known where to find you at some point over the past two weeks.”

“Stop, I get it.  I needed some time to think.”

“Sorry.”

Draco shook his head, “Can you try to understand?  Any time I have ever put myself out there, any time you’re involved, it does not go well for me.  Why would this time be any different?  I know neither of us have people standing over us calling all the shots anymore, but that doesn’t change everything.  What do I really have to offer?  To hear Pansy tell it, I’m still an overdramatic, sarcastic prat with a superiority complex.”

“Damn.  She does know you best, doesn’t she?” Harry said.  He was relieved when this made Draco smile. “Look. If you think I have any idea what the hell I’m doing, you’re going to be wildly disappointed.  I usually just walk into a situation with half the information and a vague notion of a plan.  Right now, my information is that you maybe, possibly have some kind of feelings for me and my vague-ass plan is to get you to watch some movies with me so I can do the thing where I pretend to stretch but I’m actually putting my arm around you.”

“Oh, that’s tacky,” Draco said.

“Yeah, but it made you smile.”

“Fine.  I’ll snuggle up against you, but if you even think about complaining when your arm falls asleep, I’ll tell everyone you talk in your sleep.”

“Most everyone knows that by now.”

“They don’t know whose name you have been saying in your sleep for the past couple weeks.”

“Oh, that? I’m not asleep when I say your name at night.  Just wanking,” Harry said.  He winked at Draco in a way he hoped was seductive.  Draco’s normally fair complexion turned a brilliant shade of scarlet.  He was beginning to enjoy how easy it was to make Draco blush.

Harry laughed. “Oh, this is new.  I’ve left you speechless. You can’t out-sass me,” he said.

“Not for lack of trying,” Draco said, unable to meet his eyes.  

“Well, let’s get a seat before all the good spots are gone,” he said.  They found a mound of cushions and pillows and got comfortable.  When Draco curled up against him, Harry pretended not to see Seamus nudge Dean.  Remembering their conversation the other day, he wondered how much money they were betting on him.

* * *

 

After the movies, they all pitched in to straighten up the common room.  By the time Harry and Draco were alone in their room, all Harry could think about was kissing Draco again.  Before he could kiss him, Harry had to know something.

“It’s me, isn’t it?” Harry said without preamble.  He barely had time to close the door behind him before Draco was on him.  

Draco grabbed the front of Harry’s t-shirt and pressed him back against the door.  He slid his hand up Harry’s chest then his throat until he cradled Harry’s chin.  He lifted up on Harry’s chin until he was looking up into storm grey eyes.  They stood frozen for a long moment before Draco brushed his thumbs over Harry’s mouth, tracing the curve of his bottom lip.  

“Kiss me?” Draco whispered.  He was so close that Harry felt the words as much as he heard them, but there was no mistaking that they came out as a question.  

Draco was standing too close for Harry to bring his hands up between them so he settled for holding Draco’s hips.  He couldn’t quite reach up to Draco for a kiss until he stood on tiptoes.  Draco moaned against his mouth as they stood pressed together from chest to thigh.  This kiss was nothing like their first.  The first was soft and shy.  This was something else.  

Draco, with his hand now cradled against Harry’s cheek, kissed him with a hunger that left Harry dizzy within seconds.  When Draco’s lips parted, Harry did not hesitate to let him in.  The taste of him overwhelmed Harry.  Draco’s tongue teased Harry’s mouth open before he pulled Harry’s bottom lip into his mouth with a soft brush of teeth. Draco slid his hand around until he had a fistful of messy black hair.  He pulled gently, tipping Harry’s head to the side allowing him to trace a line down the side of Harry’s neck with messy kisses as he thrust his hips forward.  The friction against Harry’s rapidly growing erection shot waves of pleasure radiating through his body.

When he felt Draco’s fingers against his skin, sliding under the bottom hem of his shirt, Harry froze.  He wanted this.  He has wanted Draco’s hands on his bare skin.  He wanted Draco’s mouth.  He wanted Draco, but not like this.

Draco pulled away, likely feeling Harry’s entire body become tense.  He covered Harry’s hands with his own. “This isn’t a yes,” he whispered.

Harry’s hands were still in the same place on Draco’s hips, but now they were shaking and gripping Draco a bit too tightly.  “Nervous,” Harry said.

“No,” Draco said, easing Harry’s hands off him, “I’m nervous.  You’re panicking.”

Harry could not argue.

“It’s okay,” Draco said.  He stepped back but did not let go of Harry’s hands.

“I want you,” Harry whispered.  

Draco leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Harry’s forehead.  “I want you, too,” he said.  Then Draco walked away and went on with his normal nighttime routine as though nothing had happened.


	8. Pay Up

“Potter! I said wake up,” Draco called from across the room.  

Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes.  Potter?  He tried not to let it hurt his feelings.  Last night may have crossed too many boundaries.

Before Harry had time to let himself start feeling sorry for himself, the curtains around his bed were flung aside.  

“Get up!” Draco was doing his best to shove Harry off his bed.

“What the fuck, Malfoy?!  ‘S there a troll in the common room?” Harry grumbled.

“No, but there’s a Professor Vector in the next room over,” Draco said.

“Fuck!”

“Finally, a sense of urgency.”

“That’s not the first sense of urgency you’ve gotten out of me,” Harry said as an automatic retort.  He froze. “Shit, sorry, I-”

“Apologize later. Go get your hair out of the bathroom drain,” Draco snapped as he shoved an armful of books into his trunk.   

Harry checked his side of the room in a matter of seconds.  Other than his bed, everything else would pass the inspection.  He ran into the bathroom, wand in hand.  They had a handful of minutes to get things ready.  He was going to have to trust that Draco could do both beds in that amount of time.

About the time he was casting his last Scourgify on the floor tiles, he heard a knock at their door.  He was relieved to see that the room looked well put together.  Draco, however, did not.  He was still in rumpled pajamas, he had an imprint of his pillow on his cheek, and his hair-

“Did you curl your hair?” Harry asked.

Draco immediately tugged at the ends of his hair, “Shut it, Potter.”  He pulled the door open and smiled, “Good morning, Professor.”

Vector may have looked a bit less shocked if the room were on fire.  She pasted a smile on her face and greeted them, “Good morning, gentlemen.  Late night?”

“Movie night,” Harry offered.

“Uh-huh.” She said slowly as she entered the room.  “My first impression is that you’ve done rather well assuming the two of you rolled out of your beds two minutes ago.”

“Four,” Draco said. He smiled at her, “And thank you.”

They watched as she did her inspection.  When she stepped into the bathroom, Harry could not help himself anymore.  He reached up and pulled at the ends of Draco’s hair.  He pulled it straight then watched it bounce back into shape when he let go.

Draco leaned his head away.

“Since when have you had curly hair?”

“These are waves,” he corrected, “not curls.”

Harry huffed at the technicality, “Since when have you had wavy hair?”

“Since always,” he said, not bothering to look at Harry.

Professor Vector stepped back into the main area of their room.  “Mr Potter, you really should just register your spider.  It would save you a bit of trouble.”

“Some would say I’ve got an affinity for trouble,” he said.  He looked up at the corner above his bed.  Sure enough, there was another spider.  “I’ll take care of it.”

“Congratulations, you’ve passed with only the one point deduction,” Vector said.  “I’ve noticed a number of you have had trouble with the early hour of these inspections, particularly today.  I would consider a later time, possibly a different day of the week to perform inspections.  If you have any preferences or opinions on the matter, please feel free to send a note to my classroom.”

“What makes you think I don’t want to see you at six in the morning every Saturday?” Draco asked.

She swatted at him with her pencil-quill.  

“Until next time,” she said and was out the door in her usual twirl of skirts.  

Draco ran his hand through his hair and groaned.  “Fuck me,” he muttered under his breath.  “That was unpleasant.  I woke up to the sound of her knocking on Neville’s door.”

“Neville’s?”

“You can’t look me in the face and tell me Seamus is ever in there.”

Harry only laughed.

“So, you have plans for the day?”

Harry walked over and dropped onto his bed, “Well, I’d go back to sleep if I didn’t have enough adrenaline in my system to keep my heart pounding for the next month.” He fell back onto his pillows and put his hand over his heart, “On second thought, I could sleep through this.”

“Spend the day with me.”

Harry looked up to see Draco still standing in the middle of the room, “Starting right now?  Aren’t you tired?”

“Good point,” Draco said, as he walked over to Harry’s bed, “I am tired, but yes.  I mean starting now, so move over.”  

“You can’t just go sleep in your own bed?”

“That wouldn’t count as spending time with me, I sleep in the same room with you all the time.”

Harry decided he was just going to roll with it.  He moved to one side the best he could.  The beds this year were larger than the bed from previous years, but it was still impossible for Draco to lie down without touching Harry.  “So now what?”

Draco smiled, “Sleep.  If you wake up before I do, wake me up.”  He rolled over until his back was against Harry’s arm.  

“I won’t kick you out of my bed as long as you can promise me you won’t get mad if you wake up with my arm over you.  I sleep on my left side,” Harry said.

“I know.”

“That puts you right in the spoon zone.”

“Fine, I’ll go,” Draco said.  He shifted a bit trying to get up.

Harry wrapped an arm tightly around his waist, “You could have just asked to be my little spoon.”

“Shut up and go to sleep.”

Harry summoned the blanket from Draco’s bed so he wouldn’t have to get up to get tucked into his own.  He brushed Draco’s hair out of the way so he wouldn’t lay on it and had to fight the urge to bury his face in it.  It should have been awkward, especially after the previous night, but they were both asleep in minutes.

* * *

 

Harry woke a couple hours later to an empty bed.  If not for the smell of Draco’s shampoo or lotion or whatever the hell made him smell the way he did, Harry might have thought he dreamt Draco having a nap with him.  When he heard the bathroom door open, he got up for his turn.

“I don’t know why I thought you would be awake before me,” Draco said.

Harry batted a hand in his general direction.  He took his time getting showered and ready for the rest of his day.  He tried not to think too much about what Draco might want from their time together.

He cast a Tempus on his way out of the bathroom.  He was surprised to see that it was only just gone nine o’clock.

“Come on.  We’re going for breakfast.”

* * *

 

The day was nothing out of the ordinary.  Draco did not act any differently toward Harry or say anything that hinted at the night before or their nap that morning.  It was driving Harry mad by the end of the day.  He fought the urge to run his fingers over Draco’s now-straightened hair or to take his hand when they were sitting in the common room.  He resisted wrapping his arms around Draco while he pouted after losing a chess game against Ron.  After Pansy attacked him with a lip-exfoliating sugar scrub, he ached with the desire to kiss Draco.  

However, the moment they were alone in their room, those feelings ground to an abrupt halt.  It was safe to want Draco when they were in the common room or the Great Hall or anywhere else.  In their room, Harry felt trapped.  Harry hoped he would have more time before he had to address it, but when Draco sat on the bed next to him he was sure that time was up.  Draco was facing Harry and already in his pajamas.  

“You think you might be able to spend the day with me again sometime?” Draco asked.

“Draco, I can’t do this.”

In an instant, Draco’s defenses were up.  His face was unreadable and even his posture changed.  In a chilly and detached way, he nodded and said, “No problem.”

“Stop.”

“I stopped.  I’m not doing anything.”

“I’ve been trying to have this conversation with you for days.  I can’t keep doing this,” Harry said.

“Yes, you’ve made that clear.” Draco moved to get up from the bed.

“Would you listen to me?”

Draco said nothing, but he didn’t try to leave, either.

“I have no right to ask who you were talking about when you told me you loved someone.  I won’t lie, that has been an impossible factor to ignore.  I need to know,” Harry said, “what do you want from me?”

Draco was still behind the walls he built around himself, but he answered, “I’ve been showing you what I want from you all day.  I want to be your friend.”

Harry’s chest felt tight but he was determined not to let it show.  If Draco was offering friendship, Harry would take it, even if it would take time for Harry to get over his own feelings.

“I just need a chance,” Draco continued.

“A chance?”

“I thought if you could get to know me, maybe you could like me.”

Harry leaned forward and took Draco’s face in his hands, “Is it still yes?”

Draco gave a slight nod. “Until I say no.”

Harry pressed a kiss against Draco’s mouth.  Harry pulled back to look into his eyes, and said, “I like you now, but I can’t compete with someone else.  You told me you loved someone and couldn’t get over him.” Harry paused to take a deep breath before he could continue. “I’m not entirely sure what I’m feeling. Whatever it is, I’m feeling a lot of it.  I can’t keep going in this direction with you if you’re still hung up on someone else.  It would, well, I don’t want to be a drama queen and say that it would break my heart, but it would hurt really bad if it turned out I was a consolation prize.”

“You know who I was talking about.”

“I need to hear you say it.”

“You know it’s you.  It’s always been you.”

“Promise there’s not someone else waiting to snatch you away from me before I’ve ever had a chance?”

Draco grabbed the front of Harry’s shirt and pulled him in for a kiss.  “Promise,” he whispered against Harry’s lips.  

“You’re not going to be thinking of someone else every time you close your eyes to kiss me?” he asked and grinned.

Draco laughed, “How could I?  Even with my eyes closed, you never stop talking.”

Harry pulled Draco into his lap, “It will only be my name you say in the dark, when my mouth is too busy for talking?”

“Shut up, Harry,” Draco said, pulling Harry’s shirt off him and dropping it to the floor. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were getting off on this.”

“Are you offering to give me an alternative?” Harry asked.  

“I’m offering anything you’ll take,” Draco said, popping open the button on Harry’s trousers.

“Come here,” Harry said, pulling Draco down for a kiss.  

Draco got out of his own shirt as quickly as so many buttons would allow.  He pushed Harry back onto the bed with much more force than necessary, nearly thumping Harry’s head into the headboard.  “Fuck, sorry.”

Harry laughed, “It’s fine.”

Harry could not get Draco’s trousers out of the way with Draco straddling his legs.  He settled for palming Draco’s erection through the fabric.  Harry was mesmerized by the sight of Draco’s head tilted back as he moaned at Harry’s touch.  Draco leaned forward against Harry, taking his mouth in rough kisses before kissing a trail down Harry’s neck.  

Their touches became demanding, unsuccessfully tugging at clothing and exploring everything within reach.  Harry ran his thumb over Draco’s nipples, making him gasp against Harry’s skin.  He rocked his hips against Harry’s, dragging his erection in a deliciously slow pressure against Harry’s aching cock.  Harry groaned and Draco responded to it like it was a physical caress.  He thrust harder against Harry before getting a hand between them and clumsily freeing their cocks.  Harry moaned Draco’s name when he took both their cocks in a firm hold.  At the sound of his name, Draco’s hips jerked forward. Realizing how Draco felt about Harry talking to him, he made himself say more.  

“Your fingers feel so good around my cock, Draco.”  Watching Draco’s response, seeing him have to rest his head against Harry’s shoulder as he tried to slow his breathing made Harry feel powerful.  “Yes, Draco,” Harry moaned.  He slid his hands into Draco’s hair; he pulled him up for a kiss.  Before he took Draco’s mouth with his own, he whispered, “You’re bloody gorgeous when you look so completely wrecked like this.”

Draco’s breath dragged out of him in a shudder and he struggled to keep his hand working over their pricks in a steady rhythm.  Harry reached between them, covering Draco’s fingers in his own tight grip. He guided Draco’s movements and brushed his fingers over Draco’s length.  Again, he whispered, “Yes, Draco.”  Watching Draco lose control of himself made him desperate for a quick release.  “Please,” Harry whispered.

With something like a whimper, he tensed up above Harry, spilling onto him in hot spurts.  “Fuck, Harry,” Draco groaned against Harry’s lips.  Harry's climax crashed over him within seconds of feeling Draco’s come on his skin.  They held onto each other while they rode waves of pleasure and caught their breath.

Draco groaned and hid his face against Harry’s shoulder.

“What? You okay?” Harry asked.

Draco shrugged as best he could from his position. “I thought,” he said, “That I’d last a little longer than five minutes. Merlin, look at us.  We hardly got out of our clothes.”

“Are you kidding?  Seeing you like that? I’m proud I lasted five minutes,” Harry said smiling at Draco.  He tucked a strand of blonde hair behind Draco’s ear.  “Besides,” he continued, “Now that we got the ‘awkward first time’ out of the way, we can go slower.”

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Draco said quietly. “Until just now, I’ve never-” he gestured at them both.

“Hey, look at me,” Harry said.  

Draco looked up at him.

“There’s a lot of firsts we can have together, okay?  I don’t know what I’m doing either, but if I can keep making you feel like that, I’ll assume I’m doing something right,” Harry said. “Now move over so I can get my wand.  I need to clean us up.”

“I’m just going to get us messy again,” Draco said.

“Already?” Harry asked. Though he feigned surprise, he was not at all disappointed.

* * *

 

The next morning he met up with Ron, Dean, and Seamus on the way to Transfiguration.  Without even a ‘hello’ in Harry’s direction Seamus nudged Ron and said, “Pay up.”

“What was that about?” Harry asked. “How many bets do you have going?”

Seamus smiled widely, “Might wanna heal up those love bites, Romeo.  McGonagall probably wouldn’t appreciate you showing up to her class looking like that.”  

Harry bit his lip to hide a grin.

“I can show you how to heal those.  I’m getting really good at it,” Seamus said then pointed over to Dean, “This one would have me looking like I’d gone ten rounds with the Whomping Willow otherwise.”

“Er, sure,” Harry said.  After the charm incantation, he looked back to the three of them.  “Pay close enough attention and you’ll probably close several of your outstanding bets soon.

“Woah, what happened?” Ron asked.

After Harry’s refusal to answer any more questions, only the stern eye of Professor McGonagall kept them quiet.  They were quiet until Draco came over to sit with Harry brushing his fingers over Harry’s shoulder as he took a seat.  Even then, the only thing that was said was a hushed “pay up.” The surprise, this time, was that it was Pansy who claimed a win. Relieved at the easy acceptance, Harry relaxed enough to give Draco’s thigh a quick squeeze before turning his attention to the lesson.

For the first time, Harry was starting to believe that this could be something.  He believed that, maybe, this something could last.  At the very least, Harry and Draco had a chance.


	9. Epilogue

Professor Vector finished up her last inspection before the Christmas hols.  They passed again with only one mark against them.  

“That ruddy spider,” Draco said.

“You don’t even know if that’s the same spider,” Harry argued.

“Maybe this will help,” Vector said, handing Harry a slip of paper. “I really do hate to see you both miss the same point every week.  Enjoy your holidays, gentlemen.” 

Draco closed the door behind her as Harry unfolded the paper.  

“Pet Registration Form.” Harry read.  Laughing, he handed the paper over to Draco.

“Just fill out the form.  It’s actually pretty funny,” Draco said.

Harry reached up into the corner and scooped up the spider, “I’m not too worried about it.  I’ll just have to do better about remembering to put this little princess outside each week.” 

Draco’s gaze went from Harry’s hand to the corner, “Did- Did you just pick up that spider with your bare hands?”

Harry nodded.  “It’s just a tiny cobweb spider,” he said as he walked it toward the window on Draco’s side of the room.

Draco jumped back, “Don’t you dare put that spider on me!”

“Relax, I’m not going to put it on you,” he said. “Wait.  You’re scared of spiders?”

“I am not!  I just don’t want a spider on me is all,” Draco said.

Harry turned toward Draco, hand open, “So you’re not scared of it?”

“I swear to all the gods that if you even think about putting that spider on me, I won’t love you anymore and I will burn this whole room down,” Draco said.  Panic tugged at his words, causing his voice a little higher.

“Love you too much to risk that,” Harry said so low it was barely audible.  He set the spider outside the window, closing the glass after it was safely on the other side.

“What did you say?” 

Harry looked up at Draco, “You know what I said.”

“I need to hear you say it,” Draco said.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.  Harry closed the distance between them and took Draco’s hands.  Draco didn’t even flinch at the hand that had just held the spider. 

Harry said, “I love you.” 

Draco smiled down at Harry. “Would you like to spend the day with me?”

“Only if we can do like last time and start the day with a couple extra hours in bed,” Harry said.

“I’m not tired at all,” Draco said.

“Good,” Harry said pulling Draco closer. “Neither am I.”

* * *

 

Over an hour later, Harry rested his head on Draco’s stomach.  Harry’s senses still overcome with the taste of his boyfriend, he almost didn’t hear Draco say his name.

“Harry, what are you doing after Hogwarts?”

“Short or long term?”

Draco thought a moment, “Both?”

Harry hugged Draco tighter to him, “First, I want to be an Auror.  Get a few years of experience in the field so I can move forward with my main goal.  I want to come back and teach Defense.  Why? What are you going to do?”

“Curse breaker,” Draco said, when he continued, he sounded less sure of himself. “Well, if we are both going to be spending a lot of time getting through training at the Ministry, if you wanted to get a flat in London, I mean, you don’t have to decide anything now, but it would be practical for both of us-” 

When it was obvious that Draco was rambling, Harry interrupted, “Yes.”

Draco fell silent.

“Yes, I’ll live with you,” Harry said. “Who else is going to make my bed?”

Draco scoffed, “I hate you.”

“You love me,” Harry corrected.

Draco traced a heart onto Harry’s shoulder with his fingertip.  “Yeah.  I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> When approaching consent for this fic, I wanted to make use of the conversations the characters had to explore things like consent in the context of celebrities/fantasies, consent now doesn't mean consent later, and the difference between verbal and implied No/Yes. I also wanted to show an example of mixed messages, like saying no even when physically aroused. Overall, I wanted to show consent as an ongoing conversation that addresses more than a one dimensional question of "sex: yes or no?".


End file.
